“Dying Bride” Lifts Veil On Scam

An Orange County woman, dubbed the “dying bride,” was ordered today to pay full restitution after she posed as a terminally ill bride dying of cancer to receive gifts from people in the Hudson Valley.

Jessica Vega, 25, formerly of Montgomery, pleaded guilty to one count of scheme to defraud in the first degree and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree, prosecutors said.

The Associated Press reported that Vega apologized today in county court. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Vega is required to pay $13,368.48 in restitution to victims. The refunds are expected in the coming weeks, he said.

She was sentenced to time served after she spent eight weeks in jail; she was also give five years probation.

“To prey on people’s emotions by pretending to have a terminal illness is unconscionable,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “I am pleased that the community members, who felt so compelled to generously help a neighbor in need, will be given back their hard earned money.”

Schneiderman said that in the spring of 2010, Vega claimed she had terminal cancer and only had a few months to live. She asked for “a dream wedding,” and the money poured in. She was married in May 2010 to the father of her child and went to Aruba for her honeymoon.